


Endless Summer

by hapakitsune



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Beaches, California, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 03:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hapakitsune/pseuds/hapakitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes Beau a minute to realize what he's seeing and then he says, "Oh shit, that's Sid."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Endless Summer

**Author's Note:**

> noodling about beach bums, pretty much unbeta-ed

California in the summer is Beau's favorite thing in the world. There's nothing else quite like it, with the overcast, foggy mornings giving way to burning sun and the volleyball tournament down in Manhattan Beach and then the surfing competition in Huntington and the roller hockey games on the weekends. The beaches are swollen with everyone from tourists to natives and that should be annoying, but Beau isn't a hardcore surfer like his sister, so he doesn't care. It just means more people to watch when he's chilling with his friends, and that, of course, is the _best_ part. 

He doesn't register at first that what he's seeing is weird – or at least, weird to him – until one of his friends (not a hockey fan, but has watched games for Beau) elbows him and says, "Hey, that guy looks familiar, right?"

Beau looks at the guy wearing a black t-shirt (black, for real? It's like eighty-something degrees and freaking sunny out, he must be crazy) and says, "Oh shit, that's Sid."

Sid, with that weird sixth sense that he has, seems to know someone has said his name and turns to look around the crowded shore, his brow furrowed. Beau pushes up and waves wildly, arm flailing in a large arc to get Sid's attention. "Hey! Sid!"

Sid catches sight of him and breaks into a familiar, though somehow even more lopsided, smile. "Hey." He comes over and stands over his towel, casting a long shadow over his legs. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here, I'm a beach bum," Beau says. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Hey, Sid –" Matt Duchene appears at Sid's shoulder. "Oh, hey. Beau Bennett, right?"

"Hi," Beau says, a little breathless. Oh _man_ , Matt Duchene. They're the same age – should have gone the same year if it weren't for Beau's stupid late birthday – and Beau has definitely watched his highlight reels with popcorn falling out of his wide-open mouth. Jesus, he can do pretty things with a puck on his stick. "What are you doing here?"

Matt and Sid exchange looks and shrug. "Training at the Toyota Center," says Matt. "We thought we'd come to the beach at least once, you know?"

"You picked a good one." Beau preens and pats the towel. "Sit down, dudes, you're taking up my sunshine."

Sid's mouth twitches at the last word. Beau rolls his eyes, picturing Paulie cackling and then saying something about Beau getting his power from the sun or something, and pats the towel again. Sid lowers himself down gingerly, trying to find space for his massive ass, and Matt kneels down next to him. Beau is genuinely concerned about Matt, who is so pale he's basically transparent, and is probably already starting to burn like a delicate flower. He offers him a tube of sunscreen – SPF 85, medical, belongs to Jimmy's girlfriend who is like a ghost, seriously – and Matt takes it gratefully, putting some on the back of his neck and his face. He doesn't completely rub in some on his cheek, and Beau leans over to do it for him without thinking, weeks of being with people he's known for years having erased his personal boundaries. Matt wrinkles his nose but smiles. 

"Thanks," he says. He shifts so he's actually sitting and stretches his arms over his head. "So this is California beach life, eh?"

"Didn't you guys train out here last summer?" Beau asks. 

"We didn't hit the beach that much," Sid says. He's still talking with a slight lisp, which Beau kind of wants to chirp him about. He still doesn't know Sid that well, though, even if Sid seems to like him, so he holds back. "Did a lot of tourist stuff."

"What, like the Walk of Fame?" Beau raises his eyebrows, grinning. "Hey, you get your photo taken with Batman or anything?"

Sid rolls his eyes and hits Beau in the shoulder. "Ha ha. He isn't my _favorite_ superhero."

"Hey, Beau-zo," says Kyle, kicking him in the ribs, hard. "Gonna introduce us to your friends?"

Beau waves his hand. "You don't deserve it." Kyle kicks him again. "Ow, fuck! Okay, Jesus Christ. Guys, this is Sid, my captain, and Matt, he plays for Colorado's team. Sid, Matt, this is Kyle –"

"Shut up, I can introduce myself," Kyle says, sticking his hand over Beau towards Sid. "Hi, I'm Kyle."

The others, from Jenna to Pete to Levi, say hi, looking varying degrees of confused and impressed. Beau can see Sid starting to look antsy at the attention, so he gets up and says, "You guys eaten dinner wyet? We can grab a sandwich or something."

"That sounds good," Sid says. "Is there somewhere close?"

"Dude, there's _loads_ of places," Beau says. "Let me grab a shirt and we'll go." He's actually pretty sure the grocery store won't care if he's shirtless, but he thinks it'll make Sid feel better. 

"Great." Sid straightens and waves to Beau's friends. "Nice meeting you!" 

His friends manage to chorus something vaguely polite, which, small favors, etc. Beau gives them all a look, steals Kevin's shirt, and makes sure he has his wallet and keys before helping Sid up. Sid looks unreal against the bright beach, like he's been pasted on top of the colorful surfers and beachgoers. Beau is tempted to pinch him to see if he's real. He's still not convinced. 

They grab sandwiches from a grocery store and Matt and Beau pretend not to see the lustful looks Sid gives the candy and ice cream place on the corner until Sid gives in and asks if they can go. Sid turns into, like, a freaking Hummel figure with how big his smile gets after the first bite of the peanut butter ice cream. It's pretty cute, actually. Matt tries to steal a bite and Sid smacks his hand so hard that the spoon flies out of his grip and into Beau's face. 

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry!" Sidney says, reaching out to try to wipe some of the ice cream off Beau's cheek. 

"It's okay, dude," Beau says, snorting. He rubs his arm over his face. "Just ice cream."

"So what have you been up to?" Matt asks Beau as they head back down to the Strand. "Hanging out? Training?"

"Yeah," Beau says. "Roller hockey and stuff, too." 

"You wanna train with us?" Sid asks around a spoonful of ice cream. "We can always welcome another person."

"Yeah?" Beau tries not to grin too wide. Play hard to get, he reminds himself. "Yeah, sure. What time?" Well, at least he wasn't too over the top enthusiastic. 

"Nine," Sid says, and he beams. "It'll be fun!" 

Only Sid would think training was fun enough to warrant a smile that big, Beau reflects. "Cool," he says. "Anything I need to bring?"

"Skates," says Sid. Matt rolls his eyes at Beau. 

“Obviously,” says Beau. “What else?”

“Whatever you need,” says Sid. “We have sticks and stuff but some people are picky.”

Matt, from behind Sid’s head, points at him and mouths, _He would know_. Beau has to pretend to be sneezing to disguise his laugh. 

Matt has to go meet up with a friend or girlfriend or something – Beau wasn’t really paying attention – around seven, so he says goodbye and heads up towards the parking garage where he left his car. Beau kicks his foot along the sidewalk and is considering heading back to his friends and maybe trying to talk them into a game of volleyball or something when Sid says, “You should show me around.”

“What?” Beau stares at him. “Why?”

Sid shrugs. “You’re from here, aren’t you?”

“Dude, no, I’m not from _here_ ,” Beau says, affronted. “I’m from Gardena, it’s totally different.”

“Right.” Sid looks skeptical. “Where’s that?”

“Not near here,” Beau says. “Well, kind of. It’s complicated? It depends on traffic.”

Sid wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. “California, eh?”

“ _Eh_ ,” Beau mocks, and Sidney rolls his eyes and shoves at him before walking towards the pier. Beau chases after him, some part of him vaguely concerned Sid will manage to fall over the edge into the water or something. He’s not the superstitious type, but he’s seen the weird shit that happens to Sid, from Brooks’ deflected puck to how every hotel they go to seems to be out of peanut butter when they go down for breakfast. Sid _would_ get hit by a fisherman hauling in a small shark and then Beau would have to turn himself in to Tanger and Flower and Duper before they hauled him in themselves to murder him to death.

By the time Beau catches up with him, Sid has struck up a conversation with one of the guys fishing off the edge of the pier. Beau comes in just as Sid says, “That’s amazing, what kind of live bait do you use?” and he has to turn around almost immediately to gag. He likes fish and seafood fine, but he doesn’t like seeing how the proverbial sausage is made. And of course Sidney is a total freak about this kind of stuff, he thinks grumpily as he turns around. God forbid anyone tell him about the time they caught that fish that was supposed to be extinct off the pier in Hermosa. He’ll buy a whole bunch of sonar equipment and they’ll never get him off the stupid water except to play hockey. 

The guy Sid is talking to hands the fishing rod to Sid and invites him to give it a go. Sid looks back at Beau, grinning widely, and Beau cannot believe he’s about to watch Sidney Crosby fish. How is this his life? He sighs, leans back against the Roundhouse, and pulls out his phone to play Candy Crush.

“Sid,” he says after about five minutes, having lost all his lives almost immediately. “Not that this isn’t fun, but do you have a ride home?”

“I was going to walk back to the rink and get my car,” Sid answers without turning around. “Why?”

“No, dude.” Beau kicks at the cement near Sid’s feet. “Hang out with me, I’ll give you a ride back afterward.”

“Really?” Sid turns around and smiles shyly. “You don’t mind?”

“Nah, man, it’s totally cool.” Beau waits. “So, uh –“

“Right. Thank you for letting me have a go,” Sid tells the owner of the borrowed fishing rod, and they chat for a minute more before Sid excuses himself with a smile. Beau shakes his head and falls into step with Sid as they head back down the pier. “What do you have planned?”

“What would you normally be doing?” Beau asks. 

“Today’s kind of a day off,” Sid says. “We skated a bit this morning, but Andy told us to take it easy.” 

“Dude,” Beau says. “We’re driving to PV, then.”

“Where?” Sid asks. 

Beau doesn’t answer and just gestures for Sid to follow him. 

Sid has terrible taste in music, all Top 40 and Europop that he’s picked up from Geno, and Beau is seriously regretting letting him control the music by the time they get up to the hills. Sid also has the worst singing voice imaginable, but Beau can’t really judge because he’s equally awful and the two of them form a motley harmony as they drive up towards the cliffs. 

“Where are we going?” Sid asks after about half an hour. “Do you know?”

“I know!” Beau says, and then Sid mutters, “Beau knows,” and starts cracking up. Beau smacks him in the shoulder before hastily grabbing the wheel again to keep them on the road. 

Point Vincente isn’t much to look at on first approach, and it doesn’t get really gorgeous until sunset, but it’s not long until then. Sid looks kind of confused until Beau beckons for him to the edge of the cliff, past the lighthouse, and to look over the railing over the water. 

“Oh, wow,” breathes Sid, eyes lighting up. “This is beautiful.”

“Wait until the sun starts setting,” Beau says. He sits down on the dirt cross-legged and leans back on his hands. “Wanna watch with me?”

Sid settles down beside him and tilts his head up. “I’ve always liked living near the water,” he says. “I always have, too, I guess.”

“It’s nice,” Beau agrees. “I missed it in Denver, and sorry, but Pittsburgh just isn’t the same.”

“No, you’re right.” Sid falls silent. The ocean is quieter up here, enough that it’s soothing, and Beau finds himself drifting, tired from training in the morning and sunning in the afternoon. Sid suddenly hits him in the arm just as he’s about to doze off and says, hushed, “Look.”

Beau looks out over the water as the sky slowly starts to turn vibrant orange, streaks of pink across the clouds. He nods, smiles. “Yeah.”

They don’t say another word until the sun has completely disappeared past the horizon. Sid stands, stretches, and looks down at Beau, squinting in the dimming light. “Ready to head back?”

Beau stands. “Tomorrow, we’re getting In-N-Out,” he tells Sid. “No arguments.” 

Sid laughs and says, “Not in my diet, Beau,” and Beau holds up his finger. Sid raises his hands. “Okay.”

Beau sings along with Sid to Sara Bareilles and Bruno Mars as they cruise back down to El Segundo to pick up Sid’s car, belting it out at a passing car of girls and turning to serenade each other at stop lights. Sid is laughing, doubled over, when Beau pulls into the parking lot of the rink, and it takes him a minute to regain himself. 

“This was fun,” he says when he stops laughing. “Thanks, man.” He reaches out, hesitates, then wraps his arm around Beau’s shoulder in a brief half-hug. “Anyway. See you tomorrow.”

“Does it have to be at nine?” Beau asks as Sid climbs out.

“Early bird gets the worm!” Sid calls back. He grins, snorting in laughter, and Beau flips him off before pulling away.


End file.
